The ANC welcomes the changing of the names of the Hottentots Holland Hospital, which will become the Helderberg Hospital, and the Eben Donges Hospital, which will become the Worcester Hospital.

It was imperative that the names of these state institutions be changed. On the one hand we had a hospital whose name contained a term offensive to a people, and on the other, we had an institution bearing the name of one of the architects of apartheid.

During last year`s imbizo process, a number of objections were received regarding the names of the these hospitals. This started a process of consultation by MEC Pierre Uys where a number of suggestions were received, and a transparent process was followed.

We believe the re-naming of these hospitals will play an important contribution in the reconciliation and transformation of these local communities and our province as a whole.